Former state rep to be confined to home on child porn charge

April 30, 2014|By Jason Meisner | Tribune reporter

Former State Rep. Keith Farnham dodges questions from reporters as he leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)

Former Illinois State Rep. Keith Farnham was released to home confinement Wednesday but ordered to stay off the Internet at his initial appearance in federal court on a charge of possessing child pornography.

Looking frail with an oxygen hose to his nose and a small tank over his shoulder, Farnham, 66, a Democrat from Elgin, answered softly, “Yes,” when U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert asked him if he understood the charge.

Gilbert told Farnham will be allowed to leave his Elgin residence only for medical reasons. His wife, who was not in court, will be responsible for notifying the court if Farnham doesn’t follow bond restrictions that include a ban on the use of any computers.

After the brief bond hearing, Farnham spent nearly three hours with court officials and the U.S. Marshal’s Office as he was processed and fitted with an electronic monitoring anklet. He left the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse amid a mob of television news cameras, stopping for a moment at Dearborn Street and Jackson Boulevard to address reporters.

Farnham declined to speak about the charges.

“That’s why I have an attorney,” he said.

Farnham was charged Monday with possessing two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin a week before his abrupt resignation in March.

The federal criminal complaint also alleged he used personal and state-owned computers to trade hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography and engage in graphic online chats in which he allegedly bragged about sexually molesting a 6-year-old girl. Authorities also linked a Yahoo email account used by Farnham to an online trading forum in which he chatted with other users about his sexual preferences, according to the charges.

Farnham told the Tribune at the time of his March 19 resignation he was stepping down because of serious health concerns. On Wednesday, Farnham told reporters he’s in need of a lung transplant and is also dealing with complications from hepatitis.